Due to recent technological advances, the use of electronic equipment, such as personal and notebook computers, printers, and other similar electronic equipment has increased dramatically. Often, such electronic devices require a multitude of cable connections. For example, in a training environment, multiple portable computers and networking equipment are connected via cables. The physical space dedicated to such activity is often not well suited to the abundance of cables necessary to operate the equipment. These cables dangle from the connection ports of the individual devices and create several problems.
First, the cables may become twisted together, making disconnection for portability difficult and cumbersome. Second, the cables may merely dangle from their connection ports in a disorderly manner and such dangling cables are not aesthetically pleasing. Third, the cable connection ports are becoming larger in number, increasingly smaller, and more fragile. This increases the risk of damaging the cables, ports, or both. Although a preferred arrangement provides the portable equipment with a sufficiently secured station to avoid incidental strain on the connection ports, such an arrangement is not available. A user may be faced with a narrow surface or an over-crowded room. The potential for unwanted or mistaken disconnection of a cable increases. Further, the disorderly nature of the cables provides the potential hazard of tripping over a cable that dangles to the floor. Any solution to these problems requires sufficient portability so as not to hinder the portable nature of the equipment itself. In this regard, a desirable aspect of any cable-retaining device is the ability to be adjustable and flexible in any given environment. For example, one aspect to improve the adjustable nature of any retaining device is the ability to easily slide as a unit over the surface upon which it is placed, thus improving versatility, while maintaining cable organization and strain relief.